Denver Broncos / NFL

NFL QB's passer ratings soar compared to former players

Former Saints quarterback Archie Manning had a career passer rating of 67.1, which by today's standards would be well below average. But he played in an era in which the rules were tougher on quarterbacks. (Associated Press file)

The NFL's on-field product has evolved, perhaps primarily because the players have gotten bigger, stronger, faster and more athletic on both sides of the ball.

Defenses have benefited from that, plus increased use of packages tailored for down and distance. The days are long gone of naming 11 defensive starters, sending them out and leaving them on the field until a change of possession. Any team's "base" defense — whether with a three- or four-man front — seems almost a rarity at times.

Yet there also have been rules changes designed to open up the game and allow receivers to run their routes relatively unimpeded, and that definitely has added to the defense's challenges.

Along the way, the standards of evaluation for quarterbacks have changed too. The "acceptable" completion percentage has gone from the 50s to the 60s, and to steal a label from baseball, the Mendoza Line for conventional-style quarterbacks might be 60 percent.

The NFL's passer rating, while a statistical fixture for nearly 40 years, has become more often cited, although also increasingly criticized in recent years. The passer rating was instituted in 1973, and it can be retroactively applied to players of previous eras too.

Don't count Broncos executive and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway among its fans.

"It's easy to go to that rating as a mechanism to compare quarterbacks," Elway said. "But everybody's in a different system. Some are going to be more friendly to a high quarterback rating. If you look at the history of the West Coast offense, it has been very friendly to a high quarterback rating.

"The bottom line is that it is one way (to judge), but you have to dig deep in the evaluation process. You're going to look at the passer rating, but you have to dig deeper into so many other scenarios."

He added, dryly: "I don't even know how it works. It seems like you can be 1-for-5 with a touchdown and have a 150 rating and be 7-for-10 with one pick and have 'em run it in from the 1-yard line, and you're going to have a 40 rating. That's why I take that with a grain of salt."

The changes in the game and the evolution of quarterback standards might best be illustrated using the Manning clan.

Archie Manning was considered a solid NFL quarterback, even when playing for the shaky Saints. He has marveled many times about the change in evaluation standards since his playing days, comparing them with those now used to judge the performances of his sons Peyton and Eli. The father completed less than 50 percent of his passes in two of his seasons, and cracked 60 percent only three times, from 1978-80. In every other season, he was in the 50s.

Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas' single-season best was 58.5 percent. He was operating in an era when his peerless tight end, John Mackey, had to fight through muggings from linebackers to get into his pattern, and defensive backs could harass wide receivers virtually all the way through their routes.

Even Elway, Peyton Manning's boss, didn't surpass 60 percent until 1993, his 11th NFL season. Yet among Hall of Fame quarterbacks, his 51,475 career passing yards and 300 touchdown passes are first, and he has a rather pedestrian (by today's standards) 56.9 completion percentage.

The perception that NFL teams throw the ball more than ever before is correct, but only marginally so. Last season's team average of 34.0 passing attempts per game was the second-highest in league history, but the high-water mark of 34.8 came a long time ago — in 1995. The per-team average of 229.7 passing yards per game last season was the highest ever, but the jump wasn't startling. The average cracked 200 yards for the first time in 1981, and has been above that figure in 27 of the 31 seasons since.

The NFL passer rating involves completion percentage, passing yards per attempt, percentage of completions that go for touchdowns and percentage of passes intercepted. The best possible rating is 158.3.

A QB's running ability and yardage, and even his on-field savvy and play-calling adjustments on the field, aren't considered. Also, it's not out of line to argue that the formula overemphasizes interceptions as a negative. Avoiding them at all cost also can indicate excessive caution. Great quarterbacks take chances too — or, more important, know when risk is more acceptable, depending on game situations and their teams' characteristics.

Because of Elway's ability to move and keep a play alive, running when necessary, the passer rating never did Elway justice. His career rating was 79.8, paling in comparison with Aaron Rodgers' league-leading 122.5 in 2011. Archie Manning's career rating was 67.1.

Peyton Manning, who comes into the season with a career rating of 94.9, is the only man in NFL history to have four "perfect" games of 158.3. Three have been in the regular season, plus a Jan. 4, 2004, AFC wild-card playoff game against Denver.

The Broncos might be willing to settle for less than perfection — under today's standards.

64.9%

Completion rate for Manning's career. John Elway completed 56.9 percent of his passes.

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